HONOR Philippines recently introduced the HONOR X6b smartphone at the onset of the “ber” months when people begin to feel the holiday season in the country. People have started to search and buy gifts, which makes the launch of the HONOR X6b timely and relevant. However, is the HONOR X6b worth adding to your growing list of gift ideas? Let us find out in this review. (For a quick look at the HONOR X6b, watch the unboxing video.)
The HONOR X6b has three color variants—Forest Green, Midnight Black, and Starry Purple. The subject of this review, the HONOR X6b Starry Purple variant has a smooth back cover coated in a metallic shade of purple with a frosted finish. Nevertheless, do not let its pretty appearance fool you; it is a tough smartphone that can withstand accidental bumps and drops. Recognizing its toughness, SGS Switzerland has also given the HONOR X6b a five-star overall resistance certification. (To prove the toughness of the HONOR X6b, I intentionally dropped it from a height of five feet, letting it fall on a smooth concrete floor. The phone survived the ordeal unscathed. Watch the video here.) The HONOR X6b has a clear thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) case for additional protection, which bundles with a charger, USB-C cable, and eject pin.
Sporting a 6.56-inch touchscreen display (TFT LCD), the HONOR X6b delivers decent screen quality with 720 × 1612p resolution and 90Hz refresh rate. With 780nits brightness, the display works well for typical smartphone activities like internet browsing, media streaming, and image shooting under sunlight. Another key feature of the HONOR X6b related to its display is Magic Capsule. Previously available in higher-end HONOR smartphones, the feature allows HONOR X6b users to quickly access applications and notifications by simply touching and expanding Magic Capsule on the top of the screen.
Speaking of shooting, the HONOR X6b has a 50-megapixel main camera (f/1.8) and a 2-megapixel depth camera (f/2.4). The main camera features up to 10× digital zoom, supports 1920 × 1080p video recording, and has one LED flash. The HONOR X6b also carries a 5-megapixel front camera that supports 1920 × 1080p video recording. Images captured by the HONOR X6b are generally decent, featuring good sharpness and relatively soft colors. The smartphone camera can also automatically apply bokeh depending on the surroundings, resulting in more dramatic effects.
Inside, the HONOR X6b carries a MediaTek Helio G85 octa-core chipset, which consists of two Arm Cortex-A75 CPUs with up to 2GHz speed and six Arm Cortex-A55 CPUs with up to 1.8GHz speed. The chipset also carries an Arm Mali G52 MC2 GPU with up to 1GHz speed. The chipset works with 6GB RAM and 128GB onboard storage to smoothly run MagicOS 8.0, based on Android 14 OS. With this combination of hardware and software, the HONOR X6b scored 248234 in AnTuTu Benchmark.
Equipped with a 5200mAh lithium-ion polymer battery, the HONOR X6b can last up to 19 hours in standby mode. The battery also supports 35W HONOR SuperCharge through its USB-C port. The smartphone has two SIM card slots and supports up to 4G (LTE TDD/LTE FDD). Other connectivity options include Wi-Fi (up to IEEE 802.11ac), Bluetooth 5.1, and the traditional 3.5mm audio jack.
With the gift-buying (and gift-giving) season upon us, the HONOR X6b is a timely offering primarily because of its attractive price point of ₱5,699, available on the official HONOR Philippines store in Shopee. Convenient payment options (such as SPayLater) are also available for interested buyers. Considering all its features and the compelling price, the HONOR X6b deserves to be part of your shopping list this holiday season.